Blythe inspired by gift of sponge in jail

Lamb Of God Randy wrote 512 lyrics after scrubbie made huge difference to his life behind bars

Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has told how a track on upcoming album VII: Sturm Und Drang was inspired by the gift of a scrubbing sponge while he was in jail – because it made a huge difference to his life behind bars.

He’s previously told how some of the record’s lyrical content came from his time in prison in the Czech Republic before being acquitted of the manslaughter of fan Daniel Nosek in 2010. The song Still Echoes, launched last month, was written about a Nazi guillotine in the complex where he was held.

Now Blythe tells Decibel: “The other song that deals directly is called 512. I was in three different cells while I was in prison, and the second one was number 512.

“I started writing it as an essay on the nature of time and entitlement in modern society. Because time seems to move differently in prison—it really does. It’s fucking strange.”

But the concept changed to an exploration of entitlement. “One day my cellmate did some mopping for the guards, so they gave him a scrubbie, like a sponge that you’d get for 99c at the grocery store,” he recalls.

“It was like he’d brought back a stereo system or something. It was so nice to have something to clean things with, because it was fucking filthy in there. This little sponge was so wonderful and we were so grateful to have it.

“But so many people think they have the right to this or the right to that. People think they have the right to be happy – bullshit.”

He adds: “If you want to know about your rights, go get locked up in a prison in Eastern Europe for a while. You have a right to use the toilet, and that’s about it.”

Sturm Und Drang – translated as “Storm And Stress” – is released on July 24 via Nuclear Blast. Lamb Of God play the Download festival at Donington on June 14 as part of a European tour: